Wet Suit vs. Dry Suit, take 45

[huskychemist]

I did some searching before posting, as I know the "wet/dry" question gets asked too many times to count...but I have a different spin on my question.

First, the background: I dive wet in Puget Sound. Cold has not been a problem for me, even during cold surface intervals (near freezing) and relatively cold water (mid to upper forties F/high single digits C). I don't have a problem with multiple dive days either. So diving wet isn't an issue for me.


But...my issue might become value. I have been diving on a clip of 100+ dives per year, and expect that rate to increase quite a bit this summer when I have vacation time. How long should do wetsuits normally last before they've been through too many compression cycles?

If I had a dry suit, how long could I expect it to last?


Or, if you don't mind, you can answer the following questions about your suit(s):

Your suit:
What water temps you dive?
How many years old?
How many dives?
How long (dives and/or years) before you think you'll need to replace it?
How much $$$? (If you're willing to say.)
Would you buy that suit again, knowing what you know now?


What I'm getting at here is "cost per dive" for my suit. I'm afraid my wetsuit will wear out sooner than a dry suit. So paying three times as much for a good dry suit that will last three (or more) times as long makes sense...

Thanks for all of your responses and advice.

Lowell

 

[coachrenz]

Not sure that I can answer all your questions, but I do know that my wet suit, diving in similar conditions as you describe lost insulation value not from number of compression cycles but simply from age. I was a sporadic diver for a number of years and my wet suit just isn't keeping me warm anymore, so, I went dry. Went with a suit that I hope will last me for many years. The High Tide SE is what I went with.

Good luck with your search. Hopefully someone with some hard data will respond.

Tim

 

[spectrum]

Don't take this the wrong way but are you diving for pleasure or to save money?

My "heavy wetsuit" is a Bare Arctic with the matching hooded step-in vest. All for under $300 from divetank or any competetive Bare dealer. In this suit I'm comfortable to 50F doing a pair of dives. When it gets to that water temp in the fall the air temp is the bigger discomfort. I dive a lot of combos but the Arctic probably has been in the wate raround 60 times and seems essential new. Most of my dives are shore dives to 30-40 feet so the compression cycles are not brutal. I just plain enjoy diving wet, I find myself more streamlined and need less lead than with my drysuit.

Enter the drysuit. It lets me gear up with the air temp in the 20sF and it's no big deal, same thing after the dive. I'm perfectly comfortable in 40F water. I could make 1 wet dive under these conditions but it would not be the 77 minute dive I made last Saturday that's for sure. Changing out after the dive wouild have been brutal as a wet diver. I love my drysuit for what it lets me do.

Obviously you can buy a lot of wetsuits for the price of some drysuits so the cost per dive really becomes a guessing game. A drysuit will have more costly maintenance over time, that's for sure. In the summer I like being able to dump cool water down my collar to ease the heat pre-dive. In a drysuit you need to hustle or else.

I think I'm going to fall where some other local divers are. They have their drysuits for when it's cold or they are going deep where it's always cold. When the water nice (50F IMO) they would just as soon go wet and give the more expensive suit a rest. I'm not anti drysuit by any means, I love my drysuit. I do think that the two styles can co-exist and one or the other can be more desirable depending on the dive.

FWIW I'm on that same 100 DPY clip.

Pete

 

[huskychemist]

coachrenz and spectrum,

Thanks for your responses.

spectrum, it's not a "dive for pleasure" or dive to "save money" issue. It's a value issue. I certainly didn't take it the wrong way...but maybe I need to explain better...

I hear so many people say, "Dive dry. It's the only way to put up with the cold water." Well, not true with me. I dive wet in Puget Sound when almost everybody around me is diving dry. And I'm not cold. Even getting out of my suit, I'm stripping down to just my shorts, drying off, and putting on new clothes. And not getting cold. Other divers don't have that luxury. They tend to get cold doing this. So I don't need to dive dry to stay warm. (And like you, I like being able to pour water down my suit in the warmer temps to cool off before getting in the water. That's a huge advantage, in my eyes, to diving wet.) However, I've been told that dry suits last longer. I am not a normal size person, so I can't buy a wet suit off the shelf. They don't fit me. I'm too big. Period. So I have to get a custom wet suit. Minimum that I've found is around $600+. So if my wetsuit is going to wear out after 100-150 dives, I'm having to plunk down $600 every 12-18 months. Sorry, I have a family. I have to scrounge for that kind of extra cash. But...if I can buy a custom dry suit for, say $1500-$2000, and it will last me 500 dives, or even 1000 dives, then I save money in the long run, and can justify the extra up-front expense. And I can dive more. (Because I dive for pleasure, I want to dive more. But if I don't have money, I don't dive.) Now, maybe I can save the "old" wetsuits for summer when I don't need as much insulation...and use the "new" wetsuit in the winter, and get more life out of them...

So I hope that puts my question into perspective. I'm not independently wealthy, so I have to make good purchases. So if a dry suit will last significantly longer, maybe I need to go that way. That's what I'd like to learn with my question...how long can I expect a wet suit/dry suit to last?

Edit: Spectrum, you mentioned more costly maintenance. Can you give me some more specifics here? Type of maintenance? Cost of said maintenance? Frequency?

Thanks.

Lowell

 

[ianr33]

I am no expert as I got my first drysuit last year,but going by the prices on the DUI websight the following is a rough guide:
Replace wrist seals,$75. Replace neck seal,$90. These will probably need replacing every 2 years or so??
The zipper is the big one,probably good for 300 dives if you treat it carefully but 3-$400 to replace.
So doing 100 dives a year you can expect to spend at least $180/year on maintenance. Could be lower if you do it elsewhere/yourself,could be a lot more if you rip holes in it on a regular basis.

I doubt you would save money buying a drysuit

 

[spectrum]

huskychemist

I can now see where not being able to dive a comodity wetsuit puts a different spin on things. My wife is in the same boat. She is not as obsessed as I am and has no interest in cold water (<50F) diving and is content with the limits of her 7mm wet set.

I would caution you that you are also looking at custom undergarments and I don't know if that price range you are considering is confirmed. You will also potentially be adding new fins, hood and a few minor accesories.

As far as maintenance its mostly the seals with any luck. Depending if they are zip seals or glued in, latex or neoprene prices will vary. I think you can easily drop $100 on a neck seal for instance. I'm sure others will correct me. A zipper replacement is in the $200 - $300 range I believe for parts and labor. You could have great luck and go 100s of dives without seeing any of these expenses but the risk is there.

If a wetsuit suffers a bad abrasion you you can mend it at your discretion of time and method. A drysuit with a leak, let alone a tear requires a higher degree of repair.

Anyway you look at it you are taking an expensive item into a hostile enviornment and crap happens.

If lady luck is on your side I have heard of some very high dive counts on drysuits.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not down on drysuits. I just don't think they are the answer to every diving situation in my case.

Do a side by side with real numbers and a risk assesment and see what your gut says. Nobody ever said dive gear decisions were all easy.

(Yes I know everyone .... Go dry, you'll never dive wet again)

Pete

 

[jbb]

Or, if you don't mind, you can answer the following questions about your suit(s):

Your suit:
What water temps you dive?
How many years old?
How many dives?
How long (dives and/or years) before you think you'll need to replace it?
How much $$$? (If you're willing to say.)
Would you buy that suit again, knowing what you know now?

my suit - USIA aqua pro plus
less than 3 years old.
I figure about 60 dives per year in the NW - Seattle.
I have had the neck and wrist seals replaced - 1 year after purchase (maybe it was sitting on display too long - the new ones are still going good after more than a year)
I am looking for another suit - just haven't decided on which. I want one that fits better. I did not get a custom fit and it is just too baggy on me.
paid about 1100 including undergarment. Probably would not buy it again due to my body type - too much extra material. I know many people that have had one for more years than I. It will last longer than my buddy's neoprene Apollo (5years- too many leaks).

Like the guys mention - you do need to buy an undergarment, but it sounds like that may not be too big a factor for you. The advantage of the laminate suits is that you can compress the insulation layer in the summer to dive cooler. With the neoprene suit most people don't where much at all in the summer. I can't seam be able to keep warm enough in the winter with mine.

As far as comparing different brands and types of drysuits, these are discussed adnauseam in other threads.

Jason